Disability Awareness Resource Pack
Guidance for those involved with the
employment of staff[1]
This pack has been developed for all staff
learning and development purposes
CONTENTS
1.Introduction
2.Disabled People
Dispelling the myths
Disability and health
Barriers
Attitudes
Stereotypical language
3. Equality Legislation
What does the Act do?
How is disability defined?
What are the implications for employment?
Who is liable for acts of discrimination?
4.The Definitionof Disability
Impairment
Substantial adverse effect
Long-term effect
Normal day-to-day activities
What if the effects of the disability are being alleviated by treatment?
Disfigurements
Progressive conditions
Registered disabled people
Exclusions
5.The University'sCode of Good Practice on the Employment of Disabled People
6. Guidance Notes for Staff Dealing with Access Enquiries from Disabled
Applicants
7. Guidance for Interviewers in Relation to the Employment of Disabled People
Introduction
Responsibilities
Recruitment process
Interview letter
Reference request
Interview
Selection tests
Offer of appointment
Reasonable adjustments in employment
Training
8.Disability Etiquette
Language guidelines
Meeting people with disabilities
Common courtesies
Interviewing people with disabilities
Planning a meeting or event
9.Communicating Information in Alternative Formats
Visual impairment
Physical or multiple impairments
Deaf or hard of hearing
10.Access to TheUniversity’s environment
Recruitment and employment
General services
11.ReasonableAdjustments
The duty of reasonable adjustment
Examples of adjustments
What is reasonable?
Preparing to make adjustments
Joint problem-solving
What if no adjustment is possible
Further guidance on reasonable adjustment
12.Health and Safety
13.Access to Work Scheme (funding for individual requirements)
What is Access to Work?
How much funding will be available?
1.INTRODUCTION
The Equality Actcovers nine protected characteristics, one of which is disability.
This guidance should be read in conjunction with the Code of Good Practice on the Employment of Disabled People.Together they assist managers in the provision of employment opportunities at all levels for disabled people within the University and to create a working environment where disabled staff do not experience barriers to full participation in University life. The Code reflects good equality and diversity practice and takes account of equality legislation.
Equality legislation gives public bodies general and specific duties to promote equality. As a result, the University publishesan Equality Scheme. The latest Equality Scheme and action plan can be found on the Equality and Diversityoffice website.
The University's intention is not merely to comply with equality legislation. It is committed to greater participation of all groups through the development of equal opportunities measures.
This pack has been developed to assist the implementation of best practice. It is intended to be a resource which can be used for reference, and not necessarily something which must be read from cover to cover. The pack complements information on the HR Intranet site and guidance on The Open University’s selection practices (contained in the Effective Recruitment and Selection Guide for selectors).
The Open University also has a disability website which includes a sectionentitled ‘Who are you?’ aimed at raising awareness of disability issues for all staff, and a section entitled ‘Fair and Square’ primarily aimed at managers and supervisors involved with the employment of staff.
Other training needs in respect of disability for internal staff should be discussed with the relevant Learning and OD Consultant. For Associate Lecturers should discuss their needs with their line manager.
2.DISABLED PEOPLE
The term disability covers a wide range of different people with different impairments, which may or may not affect the way they do their job.
Dispelling the Myths
A person with an impairment becomes disabled when the environment in which they live and work excludes them from mainstream activities and prevents them from competing on equal terms in the employment market. This understanding of disability – called the social model of disability – helps to emphasise that most of the barriers which disabled people face are created not by their impairment or conditions but by negative attitudes and misconceptions and their environment.
Disability is likely to affect most people some time in their working life, either directly or indirectly through family and colleagues. It can happen to anyone at any time, but the likelihood of disability increases with age. It could well affect senior and valued staff in whom the institution has made a large investment and on whom it depends. The cost of making the adjustments necessary for them to continue in their jobs has to be balanced against the cost and disruption of recruiting and training their replacements.
Disability and Health
There is no automatic link between ill health and disability, just as there is no equation between disability and ability. Staff should be recruited, promoted and developed according to their ability. The impact of disability on employability and the individual’s continuing ability to contribute will differ widely, as does the need for support and the cost of any adaptations that may be needed.
People may be disabled and healthy or disabled and ill. Under equality legislation some illnesses are regarded as disabilities. The effect of disabilities varies from disability to disability and from individual to individual. Disability may be permanent but may fluctuate in its effect. For example someone with rheumatism may be able to do things in hot dry conditions that they could not in the damp and cold.
Much of what is useful for staff with disabilities is also valuable for their colleagues. Many disabled people have no additional access requirements and need no additional equipment. For those that do, Government grants may be available and, given the appropriate facilities, an individual’s impairment will have little or no bearing on their capacity to realise their employment potential.
Assuming that the right person was selected for the job in the first place, i.e. the individual best fitted to the job and person specification, then they can be expected to contribute as much as any one else, provided that barriers are not created and they have equal access to development and career opportunities.
Barriers
When disabled people look for work they often encounter barriers. These may be created by assumptions people make about the abilities and skills of the disabled person and often prevent people with disabilities from competing on even terms.
The problems encountered by staff with disabilities are often more to do with attitude and the organisational environment, than with the need for individual support. Experience suggests that disabled staff with little formal support have found that with their managers’ backing they are able to succeed in their work. While others, with a comprehensive and possibly expensive support package, have found it impossible to continue in their job, because of the attitude or behaviour of their managers.
Attitudes
Changing attitudes and behaviour is not easy. Views on disability may be entrenched and mixed with individuals’ own uncertainties and embarrassment. Personal contact with disabled people is probably the single most effective way to spread understanding of disability and the needs of disabled colleagues. But forstaff to be comfortable in the presence of colleagueswith disabilities, they need to be able to work the issues through for themselves and to receive practical advice on how to behave.
Stereotypical Language
The language used to describe disability has an impact on how disabled people are perceived. Words such as ‘cripple’, ‘handicapped’, ‘deaf and dumb’ or ‘retarded’ contribute to stereotypes which set disabled people apart from the rest of society. Decisions on the language to use are not easy. Usage changes over time and terms that are used by those active in the disability world are not necessarily familiar to, or accepted by others, who have used other terms for many years. Whatever terminology and phraseology is used, it should not marginalise or patronise the people described. It should provide positive images.
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3. EQUALITY LEGISLATION
The following is a brief summary of the main provisionsof The Equality Act 2010 relating to disability.
What does the Act do?
The Equality Act prohibits discrimination against people with specified protected characteristics, one of which is disability. It gives disabled people protection from discrimination in a range of circumstances, covering the provision of goods, facilities and services, the exercise of public functions, premises, work, education, and associations.
The Act places a duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments for employees to help them overcome disadvantage resulting from an impairment.
The Act prohibits the following types of discrimination:
Direct discrimination
This occurs when someone is treated less favourably than another person because of a disability they have or are thought to have (the latter is called ‘perceptive discrimination’), or because they associate with someone who has a disability, for example their child (this is called ‘associative discrimination’).
Indirect discrimination
This occurs when a condition, rule, policy or practice that applies to everyone places a group of people who share a characteristic (e.g. a disability) at a particular disadvantage. This may be justified if it can be shown that it is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.
Discrimination arising from a disability
This occurs when a disabled person is treated unfavourably because of something connected with their disability, like a tendency to make spelling mistakes arising from dyslexia.
Disability association
The Equality Act also protects your rights if you have an association with a disabled person, such as a carer or parent.
Harassment
This is unwanted conduct related to a disability which has the purpose or effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that individual. Acts of harassment that are perceived or associative (see above) are also covered, as is behaviour that causes someone offence even when it is not directed at them.
Third Party Harassment
Employers are potentially liable for harassment of their employees by people (third parties) who are not employees of the organisation, such as customers or clients. Potential liability arises when harassment has occurred on at least two previous occasions (even when it has been carried out by different people), the employer is aware that it has taken place, and has not taken reasonable steps to prevent it from happening again.
Victimisation
This occurs when an employee is treated badly because they have made or supported a complaint or raised a grievance under The Equality Act; or because they are suspected of doing so. However, it does not apply where an untrue complaint is made or supported maliciously.
The Act makes it unlawful, except in certain circumstances, for employers to ask about a candidate’s health or a disability before offering them work. This provisionaims to prevent employers making assumptions about an applicant’s capability because of their medical history. Employers can ask applicants if they need reasonable adjustments for the interview, as well as questions about intrinsic elements of the job. For example,for a job as a driver it is permissible to ask if there are any health restrictions on their ability to drive.
How is disability defined?
For the purposes of The Equality Acta person has a disability if heor she has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-termadverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Substantial isdefined as 'more than minor or trivial' for this purpose. Long term is defined as ‘havinglasted, or is likely to last, more than 12 months’.
People who previously have had a disability within the definition are protected from discrimination on grounds of that disability, even if they are no longer disabled.
Some progressive conditions (such as HIV, multiple sclerosis and cancer) are also covered from the point of diagnosis.
What are the implications for employment?
Employers are required by law not to discriminate against disabled people when they are
applying for employment, or when employed, in relation to:
- pay and benefits
- recruitment and selection
- the opportunities afforded for promotion, transfer or training
- receiving any other benefit
- terms and conditions of employment
- dismissal, redundancy or other detrimental treatment
Employers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments, at all stages of the employmentprocess, where physical features of their premises or arrangements place a disabledperson at a substantial disadvantage. Some examples of adjustments are given in Section 9.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) publishes a series of guides for employers covering areas such as recruitment, pay and benefits, and career development.These provide further detail on the implications of The Equality Act in relation to employment.
Who is liable for acts of discrimination?
Employers are liable for acts of discrimination by any of their employees and other workers. Individual employees who discriminate against disabled employees may also be personally liable.
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January 2017
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4. THE DEFINITION OF DISABILITY
For the purposes of The Equality Act a person is considered to be disabled if he or she has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Some progressive conditions are covered from the point of diagnosis.
People who have had a disability within the definition are protected from discrimination even if they are no longer disabled.
Impairment
The Act covers physical or mental impairments; this includes sensory impairments, such as those affecting sight or hearing.
The term “mental impairment” is intended to cover a wide range of impairments relating to mental functioning, including what are often known as learning disabilities. There is no requirement forthe illness to be clinically recognised.
Substantial adverse effect
The adverse effect of the impairment on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities must be ‘substantial’. This requirement reflects the general understanding of disability as a limitation going beyond the normal differences in ability which may exist among people. A substantial effect is therefore one that is more than minor or trivial.
Long-term effect
A long-term effect of an impairment is one which has lasted at least 12 months, or where the total period for which it lasts is likely to be at least 12 months, or one which is likely to last for the rest of the life of the person affected.
Effects which are not long-term would therefore include loss of mobility due to a broken limb which is likely to heal within 12 months and the effects of temporary infections, from which a personwould be likely to recover within 12 months.
Normal day-to-day activities
Normal day-to-day activities are those which are carried out by most people on a fairly regular and frequent basis.
What if the effects of the disability are being alleviated by treatment?
In cases where the effects of an impairment are alleviated by treatment, the treatment is ignored and the impairment is taken to have the effect it would have had without such treatment. The only exception to this is the wearing of spectacles or contact lenses. In this case the effect while the person is wearing spectacles or contact lenses should be considered.
Disfigurements
People with severe disfigurements are covered by the Act. They do not need to demonstrate that the impairment has a substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
Progressive conditions
Progressive conditions are conditions which are likely to change and develop over time. This includes people with the progressive conditions of HIV, multiple sclerosis and cancerfrom the point of diagnosis.
Registered disabled people
Since1996, people are no longer registered as disabled under the Disabled Persons (Employment) Act 1944. However, people who were registered as disabled under this Act both on 12 January 1995 and 2 December 1996 were treated as being disabled under disability legislation for three years from the latter date. At all times from 2December 1996 onwards they will be legally classed as people who have had a disability. This does not preclude them from being covered as having a current disability at any time after the three year period finished.
Exclusions
Certain conditions are to be regarded as not amounting to impairments for the purposes of the Act. These are:
- addiction to or dependency on alcohol, nicotine, or any other substance (other than as a result of the substance being medically prescribed)
- seasonal allergic rhinitis (e.g. hay fever), except where it aggravates the effect of another condition
- tendency to set fires
- tendency to steal
- tendency to physical or sexual abuse of other persons
- exhibitionism
- voyeurism
Also, disfigurements which consist of a tattoo (which has not been removed), non-medical body piercing, or something attached through such piercing, are to be treated as not having a substantial adverse effect on the person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
5. THE UNIVERSITY’S CODE OF GOOD PRACTICE ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF DISABLED PEOPLE
The University's Code of Good Practice on the Employment of Disabled People contains additional information and is designed to give guidance on the following areas of employment:
- Recruitment and selection
- Induction, training and continuing support
- Health and Safety
- Staff who become disabled or whose condition worsens
- Adaptations to premises
and contains a Reasonable Adjustment Support Plan and Guidance.
Contact detailsfor further advice on various aspects of the Code are shown in the appropriate sections.
6. Guidance Notes for staff dealing with access enquiries from
Disabled Applicants
QueryContact person for staff handling enquiry
1. Further particulars in alternative formats: e.g. large print, Braille, disk, tape2. Physical Access
- Individual needs e.g. flashing lights (for people who are deaf or hard of hearing) Braille numbers, adaptations to toilet facilities etc.
5.Individual support required to facilitate interview procedure e.g. lip speaker, signer / The Disability Resource Team will be able either to arrange this or advise the appropriate contact.
Further information on the feasibility of adaptation to premises to meet an individual need is available from Estates Liaison line.
Access map showing parking at Walton Hall is available from Estates Liaison Line.
Advice available from the Estates Liaison Line.
The HR Partnerfor your Unit
The HRPartnerfor your Unit
*Staff in Regional/National Centres may wish to consult their DSE Co-ordinator in the first instance.